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Friday, August 5, 2016

Cooking with Beer - Drunken Pork Chops

The Yuengling brewery is located in my home state of Pennsylvania; Pottsville, Pennsylvania to be exact. It holds the distinction of being the oldest brewery in the United States and is the second largest American-owned brewery . . . second only to the Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams beer.

Starting in 1829 the founder David Yuengling, a German immigrant, made beer for thirsty coal miners in Pottsville. In the 1940’s Yuengling was a struggling company barely making ends meet. Now it’s sells 1% of the country's beer. And for good reason . . . it’s good beer!

Yuengling, pronounced ying-ling, is German for "young man"; which is appropriate considering that it’s a family owned company that changes ownership by the offspring of the previous owner. However, currently there are no more young men to carry on the family tradition -- only young women. The current owner is training his four daughters the ins and outs of the brewing business and one day they will take over . . . will the brewery then change it’s name to Yuengdame?

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Place the breaded chops in the skillet and brown 10 minutes on each side.

While the pork chops are browning, combine beer, ketchup, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil and turn down to a simmer.

Remove pork chops from the pan. Pour the sauce into the skillet. Stir to loosen up the browned bits. Bring to a high simmer and thicken the sauce a bit. In a small cup, combine 1 TBSP of cornstarch in 1/4 of water. Stir to combine and add to boiling sauce, whisk so no lumps form.

Serve the chops with mashed potatoes or rice. Top with the thickened sauce.